Chables l



(No Model.)

0. L. TRAVIS.

SUPPORT FOR ELECTRIC LIGHTS.

Patented Nov. 3; 1,885. I

WITNESSES J4, ,LJ M

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES L. TRAVIS, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO THE MINNESOTA BRUSH ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

SUPPORT FOR ELECTRIC LlGHTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 329,510, dated November 3, 1885.

Application filed June 1, 1:85. SerialNo.1G7,272.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES L. TRAVIS, of Minneapolis, county of Hennepin, and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Supports for Electric Lights, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification.

My invention relates to the supports for, and the means of effecting the adjustment of, electric lights for streetlighting, and also to the employment of two or more posts or uprights, connected by a rod or wire, serving as is a track or rail for the pulley-block by means of which the lamp is raised and lowered or adjusted to the desired position for use or for trimming, and to the arrangement of means for effecting the adjustment of the lamp for use and for trimming, and in a novel construction of the posts connected by the rail or track for the hoisting-pulley block, for adapting them, without unnecessary weight of material, to resist the strain or tension of the con- 2 necting rod or sugport for the lamp, as will be described.

In the accompanying drawing=, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved support for electric lamps, showing also the lamp and :0 means for effecting its adjustment. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing a modification in the arrangement of means for adjusting the lamp; and Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the preferred diagonal arrangement of the posts or street 3 5 corners.

A and A represent two posts or uprights, (made from any suitable material, but preferably of cast-iron,) tubular in form and tapering toward their upper ends, as shown. These posts are arranged, preferably, on diagonallyopposite corners of intersecting streets, as indicated in the diagram Fig. 8, for adapting the lamp to be adjusted for use to the centers of both streets, and thereby to throw the light 5 in opposite directions upon each, and, further, for giving greater range of adjustment of the lamp, as will be explained.

(t represents a truss rod or brace extending from end to end on the outer side, relatively,

of each post, and supported or held away from (No model.)

the post at or near the center. of its length by a strut or stretching-piece, a, suitably secured to the posts. IVhere the posts are made of wood, I prefer to secure these truss-rods to the ends thereof by means of cap-plate b or thimble 0, as indicated in Fig. 2, which serves to prevent splitting and otherwise to protect said ends, the ends of the rod passing through inclined longitudinal grooves in the outer faces of the ends of the poles and centrally through 6 the caps on said ends, where they are secured by nuts or otherwise in such manner as to faeilitate the adjustment of the tension of the rod. The rod may be provided with a head at one end and a nut at the other, if desired, 6 or the strut a may be made adjustable in length, or in the post, for giving the desired tension to the rod. By this construction a light pole or post may be used of the desired length, and the requisite stiffness secured 0 with much less weight of material than would otherwise be practicable. Two poles or posts thus constructed and firmly embedded in the ground are connected at their upper ends by a horizontal rod or stout wire, B, stretched or drawn taut between them, as shown, and connected at its ends either directly to the upper ends of the posts, in any suitable manner, or to eyes in the cap-plates thereof, and upon this rod or wire is mounted a pulley-block, 0, consisting of two vertical side or cheek plates, in the upper ends of which a grooved pulley, c, is journaled, said pulley resting and rolling on the rod B,which forms a track therefor. The cheek-plates have 8 a second sheave or pulley, c, journaled in their lower ends, over which a cord, d, passes for effecting the vertical adjustment of the lamp D, as will be explained. Asecond cord for effecting the horizontal adjustment of the 0 lamp is indicated at 6, said cord being represented in Fig. 1, as attached at one end to the pulley-block C, and extending thence over 6, attached to the pole A near its upper end, and thence down on theinner side of said pole 5 to an adjusting-drum, F, secured to said pole at a suitable distance above the ground to prevent accidental interference or tampering with it. The drum is provided with a crank for operating it, and with a ratchetdisk and pawl 10o for holding it and the lamp at the desired adjustment. "The'cord e, instead of passing over and down from pulley 6, may pass under and up outside of and over said pulley,and thence back over a pulley, e, and down to drum F, secured to the post A, as shown in Fig. 2, thereby adapting both operations of adjusting the lamp and trimming the same to be performed at the same side of the street. Where the posts are of sufficient height for the purpose, the cord d, through which its vertical adjustment is effected, may be attached at one end to the post A, at or near its upper end, as shown, and passing thence over pulley 0 of the pulley-block, may have the lamp D'attached directly to and pendent from its opposite end, as shown in Fig. 1. By this arrangement, as the' pulleyblock is moved toward post A, the lamp will move downward a corresponding distance; but where the width of the street is too great, or the posts too short to permit this, the end of the cord d may be passed down under a pulley, g journaled in the 1 'upper end of'the lamp-frame, and thence upward and be secured to the pulley-block O, as shown in Fig. 2. By this last-described arrangement, the lamp will be made to move laterally toward or from the post A, say, twenty i feet, while iii-moves downward or upward ten 3 feet, or one-half the distance of its lateral movement; This enables me to carry the lamp to i the centers of wide streets and diagonally at the intersections thereof, without the aid of very high poles, and, at the same time, avoids 1 the necessity of letting the lamp down so low in getting it into position by the side of the post for trimming as to endanger accidental interference with it and the conducting-wires. The adjusting-drum should be arranged at such a height above the ground as to require a light step-ladder in reaching and adj usting it, and the lamp" should be arranged to be lowered to the side of the post at a corresponding height, for the reasons stated. In the event of breakage of the wire or track B, upon whichthe lamp-sheave travels, and from which the lamp is supported, the holding-rope d and adjusting-rope 6 will serve to uphold the lamp-and prevent it from falling to the pavement below. and being shattered. Flexible conductors hh connect with the lamp D in and usual or preferred manner and serve to permit its adjustment, as explained.

The adjusting drum or Windlass may be inposts A and'A, trussed on the sides opposite to and in combination with the connecting rod or rail forming the track for the pulley-block, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination, with the supportingposts and the rod connecting said posts, of the pulley-block adapted to move on said rod, and the cords d and e for effecting the adjustment of the pulley-block and lamp, substantially as described.

'3. The combination, with the supportingposts A and A, of the connecting rod or rail B, the pulley-block O, .moving'on said rod, means, substantially as described, for adjusting said pulley-block, and the lamp suspended from said block by means of a cord attached at one end to one of the supporting-posts and at the'other to the traveling, pulley-block, substantially asdescribed.

4. In a device for supporting electric lamps overstreets, the combination,wi-th the trussed posts and the fixed supporting wire or track connecting said posts, of the adjusting-cords and the traveling sheaves or pulleys adapted tobe moved horizontally by the weight of the lamp. a

5. The combination, with the supporting wire or track, of the traveling sheave or pulley and'the suspending-cord adapted to impart both a lateral and a vertical movement to the lamp when actuated by the weight of the lamp, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the traveling sheave or pulley, of the supporting wire or track and the holding and releasing ropes adaptedto act as safety-supports for the lamp in case ofbreakage of the said supporting wire ortrack.

Intestiinony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 28thday of May, A; D. 1885.

CHARLES L. TRAVIS. 

